He said: Ḥāshid ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to me: When Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl came to Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb, Sulaymān looked him over and remarked, “A day will come when this man’s voice will be heard.” (1)

Khalaf al-Khayyām said: Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad ibn Khalaf told us; I heard Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām say: We mentioned to ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī al-Bukhārī’s statement—meaning his words, “I have never considered myself insignificant except in the presence of ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī.” ʿAlī replied, “Leave that aside, for Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl has never seen anyone the like of himself.” (2)

Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim said: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh say, “The companions of ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī al-Fallās put a hadith to me for discussion, and I said, ‘I do not know it.’ They were pleased with that and went off to ʿAmr and informed him. He remarked, ‘Any report that Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl does not recognize is no hadith at all.’” (3)

Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim also said: I heard Ḥāshid ibn ʿAbd Allāh relate that Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī said to me, “In our estimation Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl is more learned in jurisprudence and more insightful in hadith than Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” (4) Someone objected, “You have gone too far!” He replied, “Had you met Mālik, and looked at his face and at the face of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, you would have said: both are equal in jurisprudence and hadith.” (5)